(A) Lighting. Lighting affixed to any wireless telecommunication facilities shall meet, but not exceed, the minimum lighting required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). For any application where lighting is required, the applicant shall submit documentation from the FAA stating that the proposed lighting meets all applicable FAA standards and regulations.
(B) Structural standards. Wireless telecommunications facilities shall conform to the most current versions of the ANSI/ASSE A10.48 “Standard Criteria for Safety Practices with the Construction, Demolition, Modification and Maintenance of Communication Structures”; ANSI/TIA-222 Standard, “Structural Standard for Antenna Supporting Structures, Antennas and Small Wind Turbine Support Structures”; and ANSI/TIA-322 Standard, “Loading, Analysis and Design Criteria Related to the Installation, Alteration and Maintenance of Communication Structures.” Wireless telecommunication facilities shall also meet any applicable local building code standards.
(C) Height restrictions. No wireless telecommunication facility shall exceed 199 feet in height, unless the applicant sufficiently justifies that the height of the tower will eliminate other similar towers or that the provision of service cannot be accomplished without a tower height in excess of 199 feet. Any applicant proposing a wireless telecommunication facility greater than 199 feet in height must provide evidence that the applicant notified the FAA of the intent to build the facility and received a final determination of “no hazard” from the FAA. Wireless telecommunications facilities located atop or within an alternative support structure may extend 10% above the height of the structure or to the maximum height permitted in the zoning district in which the structure is located, whichever is less.
(D) Collocation.
(1) An applicant for a new wireless telecommunication facility must demonstrate by substantial evidence that a bona fide need exists for the construction of a new tower and that no reasonable combination of locations, techniques, or technologies would obviate the need. The applicant for a new facility must further demonstrate that all reasonable efforts have been made to collocate wireless telecommunication facilities on existing towers or alternative support structures.
(2) Prior to the approval of an application for a wireless telecommunications facility, the applicant shall demonstrate commitment to joint use as follows:
(a) The applicant shall submit evidence as part of the application demonstrating that a genuine effort has been made to solicit additional users for the proposed new wireless telecommunications facility. Evidence of this shall include, at a minimum, copies of notices sent by registered mail, return receipt requested, to all other providers of cellular and wireless telecommunications services within the same county and within adjacent counties, or a Class II legal advertisement, advising of the intent to construct a new tower, identifying the location, inviting the joint use and sharing of costs, and requesting a written response within 15 business days.
(b) As part of the application, the applicant shall attest that the company will encourage the joint use of telecommunications towers within the city, committing that there shall be no unreasonable act or omission that would have the effect of excluding, obstructing, or delaying joint use of any tower where fair and just market reasonable compensation is offered for such use.
(c) Wireless telecommunications facilities, other than alternative support structures, shall be designed and built to accommodate a minimum of three wireless telecommunications provider’s equipment. The owner of the tower, if different than the applicant, must certify to the city that the tower is available for use by other telecommunications service providers on a reasonable and non-discriminatory basis.
(E) Concealment.
(1) All new or modified wireless telecommunication facilities must be concealed in a way that minimizes the adverse visual impact of the facilities through careful design, siting, landscaping, screening, and innovative camouflaging and stealth techniques, unless applicant shows substantial evidence that to do so is impracticable.
(2) Concealment techniques include fake trees, parapet extensions, silos, fake chimneys, water towers, fiberglass flagpoles, and steeples.
(3) A description must be included in the application of the possibilities for concealment that have been explored, and why the proposed option was chosen.
(4) Visual impact analysis of the wireless telecommunication facility is required using existing information, predictive modeling techniques, photographs, and simulations, to accurately and impartially communicate the potential visual impacts from proposed project.
(5) If determined to be impracticable by Zoning Officer for a tower or alternative support structure to be entirely concealed, the applicant will describe how they will utilize materials, colors, textures, screening and landscaping to blend facilities into the natural setting and surrounding buildings.
(6) If an antenna is installed on an alternative support structure, the antenna and supporting electrical and mechanical equipment must be a neutral color that is identical to or closely compatible with the color of the alternative support structure so as to make the antenna and related equipment as visually unobtrusive as possible.
(7) Any equipment shelter or cabinet must be concealed from public view or made compatible with the architecture of the surrounding structures or placed underground.
(F) Replacement or modification of any previously approved concealed tower or facility must substantially conform to previous design characteristics.
(G) Setback. Each tower shall have a setback of at least 110% the tower height measured from the tower base to the nearest property line.
(H) Collapse zone. No habitable structure may be located within the proposed collapse zone. The applicant shall demonstrate that the entire collapse zone is either under lease or owned by the applicant and that no habitable structure will be constructed in the collapse zone while die tower is standing.
(I) Equipment cabinets. No equipment cabinet for a wireless telecommunications facility shall exceed 750 square feet in area, nor 12 feet in height. All equipment cabinets shall be located with the tower and shall be enclosed within a minimum of a six-foot security fence and a locked gate.
(J) Signs. No commercial messages nor any other signs beyond that which is required, not to exceed 12 square feet cumulatively, shall be placed on any tower, equipment cabinet, or security fence.
(K) Landscaping.
(1) Existing mature tree growth and natural landforms shall be preserved to the maximum extent possible. Trees existing within 100 feet of the wireless telecommunications facility shall not be removed except as required for tower construction, security fence construction, installation of ingress or egress, and the installation of utilities to the facility. To the extent that existing vegetation is the basis for a waiver of the landscaping requirement, preservation of such vegetation shall be a condition of the permit, and if such existing vegetation is removed or destroyed, the applicant shall meet the landscaping specified in division (K)(2) below within six months thereafter.
(2) Wireless telecommunications facilities shall be landscaped within six months after the tower and base station are erected with a visual buffer of plant materials that effectively screens the view of the equipment cabinet from adjacent property. The standard visual buffer shall consist of a landscaped strip of at least four feet wide outside the perimeter of the security fencing enclosing the facilities. The visual buffer shall include vegetation of at least eight feet tall, planted ten feet apart behind a contiguous hedge of shrubs three feet deep. All plant materials shall be species native to West Virginia. In the case where the tower and base station are sited on large wooded lots, the applicant may request that the natural growth preserved around the tower site be considered a sufficient visual barrier, without the need for additional landscaping. Such a request shall accompany the application and shall include photographs of the natural growth to be preserved.
(L) Location of towers or antenna in or near historic sites, historic districts, and designated scenic resources. Applications for wireless telecommunications facilities or antennas subject to this section shall also demonstrate that the views of, and vistas from, such structures, districts, and resources shall not be impaired or diminished by the placement of the proposed tower or antennas. In no instance shall a wireless telecommunications facility subject to the provisions of this division (L) exceed 199 feet in height.
(M) Site demarcation. The site shall be physically and visually marked in the field, for immediate identification, with any combination of survey irons or flags as needed during the application process or during construction.
(Ord. 301, passed 8-18-2022) Penalty, see § 152.999